harrowing
by Tomoe Mami
Summary: A tale where Bemu is betrayed by his master. Or, a glimpse into Bemu's life pre-GNG and the incident that shaped him into the dog he was before Great changed his mind. One-shot epilogue will come later on.
1. betrayed

_Warning for trauma, cruelty to animals, loss of trust and character death_.

* * *

There was once a Boxer who was called Bemu. He was a family friendly dog.

He had lived with this family since he had been a pup. For now, at least, they treated him well. He hoped he could continue living with them for many years.

But then, _it_ happened one day. The man came home in a bad mood; he was gesturing to Bemu. Bemu could sense something was going to happen to him. He whined softly and backed away, but the man lunged and started dragging him out of the house by his collar. Bemu was forced into the man's car and the man drove to some kind of building, pulling him out.

Once more, the man dragged Bemu against his will inside the building where some scientists were working. The man walked up to one and started a conversation with them, pointing at Bemu with his other hand.

The scientist nodded and took a hold of Bemu's collar, as the man left.

The scientist took Bemu to a padded white room, where there were four shackles fixed to the ground. There was also a shackle which could be opened lying on a table in the middle of the room.

Bemu's legs were placed into the shackles and the shackles locked tight, causing Bemu to whine. He didn't like whatever they were planning. But he wasn't an aggressive dog, so he bore with it.

It'd be his mistake.

The shackle on the table was placed around Bemu's neck and was bolted closed. The chains on either side of it were then reattached to the wall.

Bemu was getting a very bad feeling about this. He had heard stories about this kind of treatment done to other dogs. It wasn't nice. It apparently left them very scarred, emotionally and physically.

The man who had shackled him left and a different man entered, nastier looking.

* * *

 **A/N** : I haven't forgotten about any of my other stories on either account. I recently finished rewatching Ginga Nagareboshi Gin and cried my heart out, so I thought I'd add a new fic to the Ginga archive. Here is this: a pre-canon story on what I believe happened to Bemu (who happens to be one of my favourite dogs). :D Please enjoy and review on your way out.

Also, this fic is for the Song Time challenge on the AMF forum (Ideal White by Mashiro Ayano). This fic is also part of the "these pawprints overlap" universe.


	2. scarred for life

The newcomer had a small container in his hand, Bemu noticed. What that container held he did not know. The nasty-looking man stepped slowly towards him as Bemu tried in vain to escape his bonds. Finally, the man grew impatient with himself and strode forward, container at the ready. Bemu struggled even more, even though he knew he was trapped fast. For a moment, the wall chains loosened briefly.

But then, they tightened again and Bemu knew it was no good. His good for nothing master had left him here, possibly to die. But he wasn't going to die that easily; he would take one or two down with him before that happened.

So he prepared himself, standing defensively. The hand rose, the container with it, and the wrist flicked.

Nothing could have prepared Bemu for this. He howled in agony as the liquid, likely acid of some kind, ate away at his skull immediately. So much pain, it was unbearable. And the human responsible was standing there gloating.

Gritting his teeth and calling on his innermost reserves of strength, Bemu opened his eyes as droplets of acid trickled down his face. He jerked his head forcefully downwards, snapping the chain on the left. Doing the same to the chain on the right, Bemu glared at his foe angrily.

There were still the shackles around his paws to deal with, but he'd get to them soon. As far as his neck would allow, he leaned forward and snarled at the man who had deliberately scarred him. Bemu decided from now on humans were his number one enemies, for good.


	3. beginning of vengeance

_Warning for gore and thoughts of vengeance_.

* * *

Snapping each of the shackles around his paws, Bemu tore forward, ripping into the man with everything he had. He was going to make this man pay with his life.

He'd heard the saying "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". Well, hell hath no fury like a dog scarred, thank you very much. Every human here would pay dearly, even the one that had seemed nice.

Ripping the man's clothes off with his teeth, Bemu sought out the spots he knew were weakest. He gouged out the eyes and sunk his fangs into the guy's throat. Never again.

Never again would he trust a human. Any human or dog who saw his face from now on would be blinded or killed.

Seeing something out of the corner of his eye, he glanced up, blood dripping out of his mouth. And froze. His reflection stared back at him, scarred as it was. It was a glass mirror. He felt the beginning of self-loathing towards himself.

Bemu glared around, noticing other humans were approaching. He snarled at them to stay away and most hesitated, scared of the Boxer with blood dripping from his muzzle.

He really hated what he looked like now.

His skull completely gone and his brain showing. Bemu was sure that'd disgust anyone. But they wouldn't understand what he'd been through, wouldn't understand his pain.

No one would, he was sure of that. No one would want to be around him or be in his pack, he decided.

Deciding it was time to escape before the humans called the police or the animal catcher, Bemu fled, tears of suffering leaking from his eyes. His suffering soon turned into cynicism, however, at the world itself.

Why had the human who'd been his master done this to him anyway?


	4. restful planning

The sun shone in the summer sky, but Bemu kept running as hard as he could. He wanted to put as much distance as he could between himself and the humans. Though he had been raised by humans, he hated them now.

And it was all one selfish man's fault.

Bemu decided he would live in the wilds of Kyushu. Any dog who would accept him at face value, who would ignore the scarring, would be welcome in his pack.

Bemu aimed to be Satsuma's strongest leader. He knew he would have to deal with ridicule, but he was prepared for that. Bemu was ready to dish out appropriate punishment to those who tried to insult him.

But for now, forming a pack he could be leader of was the more important task at hand. Coming across a stream, he padded into it and stuck his head underwater briefly. Bemu raised his head, taking a moment to settle his breathing.

The Boxer shook himself free of the water, relieved the remaining droplets of acid were now gone. Bemu sniffed around and found the carcass of an animal. Thankfully, it was a fresh kill. He tore into it like a wild beast. He hadn't realized the stress of being attacked and running for his life had made him ravenous.

The mouthfuls Bemu ate were sizeable and he had hardly finished chewing them before he swallowed, his stomach was that empty. He knew he would probably pay for it later, but that didn't matter right now.

What mattered was food, then rest.

Once he was full, Bemu lay down beside the carcass, which was now 'his' and went to sleep. He hadn't wanted to, but slumber took him to his glorious puppyhood. Dreaming of a better life or their youth was how most old dogs went out, Bemu remembered. He wasn't old and he had no intention of going out just yet.


	5. creation of a pack

Once Bemu woke up, he set off to find some wild dogs to talk to.

It didn't take long before he found a few dogs drinking from the stream further up. Bemu made sure his paw stepped on some bracken so they would hear him. Casually, they glanced in his direction.

"What's up, stranger?" One, an older Doberman, asked. Bemu thought he looked very crafty.

Bemu nodded to him, noticing he hadn't stared at his head. "I'm forming a pack of my own. Would you like to join?"

The Doberman continued to hold his gaze at Bemu's eyes, having seen Bemu's head immediately but looked away a second later.

Before the Doberman could answer, however, one of the younger dogs spoke up. "Hey, what happened to your head?"

The Doberman tried to snap at the Collie to show respect, but Bemu snarled: "Leave him!"

Bemu lunged forward, shortening the distance between him and the Collie in no time. His claws arced through the other's eyes.

The young Collie howled in agony, blood and some kind of clear liquid pouring from his eyes, which were now shut forever.

The Doberman watched, his own eyes narrowed. He realized the Boxer had suffered some horrendous injustice because of humans to make him react this way and felt bad.

Bemu leaned down and fastened his teeth into the younger dog's skull. He paused, an eye glancing in the direction of the Doberman when he heard the older dog speak.

"Don't kill him. I'm not his father or anything, but I think he's learned his lesson. Leave him; he'll get targeted by the birds. And..." Here the Doberman hesitated, but soon continued. "Please accept my apology in his place for him disrespecting you." The older dog bowed his head, nudging the other young dog to do the same.

"We would like to be in your pack." The Labrador mix added.

Satisfied with the apology he'd received, Bemu's fangs instead sank into the Collie's neck and he threw the young dog into the water.

Burdened by what the humans had done, Bemu threw back his head and howled in anger. He had taken a dog's sight and had no doubt he would kill the next dog who spoke of his head so disrespectfully. Such was his want for vengeance, though he knew he was doing it to the wrong species.

Turning back to his two packmates, he nodded, feeling a strange kind of happiness. "Welcome to Satsuma's strongest. Lord of Kyushu."


	6. the real journey begins

Having gathered what would be the start of his pack, Bemu decided to start heading to Kyushu in order to start establishing his territory. The journey would be long and more young dogs would join them, but not every one of them would survive to the end.

That was the survival of the fittest, though, at least in Bemu's mind. He would not tolerate any more disrespect towards himself but, in time, would curb his destructive tendencies. This would allow for a greater sized pack to thrive in the wilds of where they would settle.

It would be truly perfect.


End file.
